At least according to this.
Third most expensive squad in the world apparently, only behind petrol money owned City and Paris..
https://football-observatory.com/IMG/sites/b5wp/2020/wp308/en/
This has always been obvious - those numbers don't even take into account wages.
The contrary has always been a myth started by Mourinho to hide his own failings. Anyone who thinks Mourinho wasn't backed needs to think - what was adding Harry Maguire (to the team he had already assembled by the end of 17/18) going to achieve? Were we going to challenge Liverpool and Manchester City with Maguire in 18/19?
If the answer is no, why the feck not - considering the amount he had already spent on that squad? Why the feck not, when the club had bought him Matic and Sanchez (two players on his request - who have no long term value, but were there to win now).
Not signing Maguire, just gave him an easy out. And he used it to hoodwink a fanbase which loves nothing more than hero worshipping managers.
I think just looking at the financial side and purely in figures is missing the point really.
Ole for example. It's an expensive squad but in large part due to players signed before he arrived. He has to take responsibility for Maguire, Bissaka and Fernandes, but those are the only big money signings made under him, and you can make an argument both Bissaka and Maguire improved us last season. Certainly Bissaka did. While Fernandes has been arguably the best player in the league since he arrived and our best signing in a very long time...and they didn't back Ole with him really. They signed him halfway through the season when any ambitions Ole might have had with Fernandes for that season had already turned into a salvage job. The club "backed" him by refusing to sign a young striker for less than £30m, who would have instantly over doubled in value just by signing a contract. They've backed him by failing to sign any of his targets this summer. Other clubs might spend less but they don't ignore what their manager needs. He also when he took over from Jose had a situation where the club were deliberately running contracts down to nearly a third of his first team squad, which I imagine makes it quite impossible to motivate players effectively...a factor that was completely ignored at the time.
As for Mourinho, I think he was backed very well to start with, so he has far less to complain about in that regard...but he asked for the authority to manage Pogba, and wasn't given it. He wasn't allowed to move on players he didn't want. In his last season the club basically deliberately dicked him about and yet didn't sack him. I'm not really sure what that was other than self destructive. As soon as he was being told what he could and couldn't do with his own players it was time to get rid, because that's literally the opposite of backing a manager.
Before that, LVG was effectively sacked in secret to make way for Jose 6 months before actually being sacked, if the papers were to be believed (and considering they all ended up being right I would say they can be). I thought he had to go but that certainly isn't backing someone.
Not sure where to start with Moyes. We signed him Fellaini. If he was that doomed from the start why appoint him in the first place?
I would say of the four only Jose got any real backing, and actually, it produced results while it was there. Two trophies and a second place finish which might have even been a title season if it wasn't for City's phenomenal form. LVG maybe he did but it's unclear who was choosing which players we signed and if LVG is to be believed they definitely weren't the ones he was asking for.